Russian military servicemen march during a military parade in Moscow's Red Square, marking the 69th anniversary of the victory over the Nazi Germany in WWII. / Yuir Kochetkov, epa

by Portia Walker, Special for USA TODAY

by Portia Walker, Special for USA TODAY

DONETSK, Ukraine - The masked men on the streets of this city held hostage by pro-Russian militants for weeks are not willing to speak to journalists.

"We are here for our people" was all that one of the men would say.

The militants in the country's east are preparing for a weekend referendum on independence, a vote similar to one that Moscow used to annex the Ukraine province of Crimea in March.

The central government in Kiev has lashed out at the referendum as illegal and blames Russian President Vladimir Putin for being behind the unrest. On Friday, Putin visited Crimea and hailed its incorporation into the Russian Federation.

"The example of Sevastopol shows the world that in places where people are ready to fight for their freedom, the enemy will never conquer," Putin told crowds in the port city that is home to the Russian Black Sea naval fleet.

Putin came to Crimea to celebrate Victory Day, marking the defeat of Nazi Germany in 1945, and watched a parade of Russian navy ships and a flyby of Russian aircraft. Russian troops had fanned out into Crimea prior to its annexation, and Ukraine say Russian military are in East Ukraine too directing unrest.

NATO's Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen, who was visiting the former Soviet republic of Estonia, said Putin's visit to Crimea was "inappropriate."

In a separate parade in Moscow featuring Russian military tanks, Putin hailed the former Soviet Union, the Communist dictatorship that dissolved in 1991 and paved the way for former enslaved nations like Ukraine to declare independence.

"The iron will of the Soviet people, their fearlessness and stamina saved Europe from slavery. It was our country which chased the Nazis to their lair, achieved their full and final destruction, won at the cost of millions of victims and terrible hardships," Putin said.

The pro-Russian militants in Donetsk first took over the regional administration building in the city center in April. They now control government offices in many of the cities of East Ukraine and are in daily clashes with Ukrainian security forces.

The 11-story building at the center of Donetsk serves at the headquarters of the self-declared Donetsk People's Republic. Surrounded by barbed wires and piled-up tires, the militiamen have set up camp there in a series of a ragged tents arranged around one side of the building.

The men are a tough crew, with scars, tattoos and mismatched fatigues. Questioned about their motivations for joining the group they list anger with the uprising in Kiev, affection for Russia but also a deep frustration with their economic situation.

The January uprising in the capital was led by pro-European Ukrainians who oppose closer ties to Russia. Their protests prompted the Kiev parliament to oust former pro-Moscow president Viktor Yanukovych.

Dimitri Krasnoarmeysky, 31, came to Donetsk to join the militia from Rodynske, a town around 30 miles away where he worked as a miner. Since the uprising in Kiev he had seen his salary cut from $700 a month to $250 a month.

Food and fuel prices had risen too, all of which he blames on the new government in Kiev.

"They have illegally overthrown the president," he said. "The best thing for us is to be a federal republic and then to become part of Russia. We have been speaking Russian all our lives."

Valery Biloshitsky, 32, says he makes around $120 a month as a welder. He believes a welder with his skills could earn much more in Russia.

"The salaries there are higher and the bills are lower," he said.

He alos says he felt a strong emotional pull to Russia.

"I feel I am naturally Russian," he says.

The men said they did not support the former president, Yanukovych, but felt that Ukraine was more stable under him. Kiev charges that Yanukovych looted the treasury of billions of dollars and enriched himself and his cronies. When protests rose up in Kiev, security forces under Yanukovych fired into the crowds, killing more than 80 people

Many here believe they are not getting their fair share of money from Kiev and believe Russian propaganda streaming from Russian-controlled media that life would be much better under Russia. The militants have said Russia will send more money to the region and boost peoples' pensions.

"We supported the western region of Ukraine", said Vladimir Ivanovitch, the speaker of the Donetsk People's Republic.

He said that if East Ukraine was allowed to keep the taxes it paid to Kiev, the region would be much wealthier. "Here in the park, there will be not grass but roses."

Meanwhile, major fighting erupted in the Ukrainian port city of Mairupol as Ukrainian troops crack down on pro-Russian separates.

Ukraine's Interior Minister Arsen Avakov said in a statement that 20 "terrorists" and one police officer were killed in fighting that erupted when 60 gunmen tried to capture the police station in this city of around 500,000 people and were rebuffed by police and the military.